USIM students on aid mission in Yogyakarta safe from Mount Kelud eruption

Published 4 years ago on 17 February 2014

A housing complex is seen covered with ash from Mount Kelud, in Yogyakarta February 14, 2014. — Reuters pic

JAKARTA, Feb 17 — A group of 104 Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) students on a humanitarian mission to Yogyakarta had to endure a 12-hour bus trip to get here after the Adisucipto International Airport in Yogyakarta was closed following eruptions at Mount Kelud volcano in East Java on Thursday.

After the sapping journey, they were housed at the Malaysia Hall in Jakarta for two days before returning to Kuala Lumpur.

The students, accompanied by three officers of the Economic and Muamalat Faculty were supposed to return home from the airport on February 15.

Education Malaysia director in Indonesia, Associate Prof Dr Juzhar Jusoh said the section took the initiative of transferring all participants by bus to ensure their comfort and safety.

According to the original schedule, the group should have returned to Kuala Lumpur as soon as the six-day USIM Humanitarian Aid Mission to Yogyakarta was completed.

However, he said when the spewing of ash from Mount Kelud blocked the airspace in Yogyakarta, the airport was closed and all flights were cancelled, and remained cancelled till today.

He said the group would be departing for Malaysia via the Soekarno Hatta International Airport here soon.

“The students are in high spirits except for a few who were tired after the long trip,” he said. — Bernama